Ready, Set, Ready, Set, Read!Read!

Ready, Set, Read!Ready, Set, Read!Using Environmental Print to Teach

Reading

• Lists

• Rhymes and Poems

• Songs

• Newspapers and Magazines

• Mail

• Technology

Where to Find Environmental Print

• Street signs, billboards and license plates while driving

• In buses and on the light rail• In stores• On food labels• In advertising• In restaurants

Early Word Recognition• Pointing out and reading the words

in children’s natural surroundings are great ways to develop early letter and word recognition skills.

• Talk with your child and tell them what the things around them say and mean.

• Talk about meaning!

Environmental Print• Write on charts

• Add pictures

• Display these charts on your refrigerator or in your child’s room

• Review what these charts mean

• Label things at home-lamp, table, refrigerator, bed, colors, etc.

Generating Lists• The most common form of text that all of

us write and use on a regular basis is a list

• Adults make to-do lists, grocery lists, birthday wish lists and many forms of the top-10 list

• We also read lists as well– The list of ingredients in our favorite recipes– The list of top teams and players in major

league baseball or football– A list of best selling books

Lists• Lists are a normal part of family life.

• Make lists with your children

• From to do lists to wish lists and everything in between

• Read the lists to and with your children and have your children read the created list to you!

Lists Activity Take a moment and

write a list of everything you need to do this weekend or next week!

Rhymes and Poems• Short rhymes and poems are great to read

at home!

• The rhyme and alliteration in rhymes and poems make them ideal for developing sound or phonemic awareness in children.

• The rhythmical nature of poems and rhymes make them easy to learn and read and fun to read again and again which is the main method for developing basic reading fluency in children.

Rhymes and Poems

Star light, star brightFirst star I see tonightI wish I mayI wish I mightHave the wish I have

tonight!

Rhymes and Poems• Collections of rhymes and poems abound in

libraries and bookstores.

• Read a favorite poem to and with your child every evening.

• The entire experience can take less then ten minutes.

• Look for interesting words in the text.

• Jot them down and read them repeatedly with your child.

Rhymes and Poems

• It is the patterned nature of poems that make them easy for children to write their own versions of favorite poems that can be shared with other families.

Rhymes and Poems• Diddle diddle dumpling my son John• Went to bed with his trousers on• One shoe off and one shoe on• Diddle diddle dumpling my son John

• Diddle diddle dumpling Principal Tim• He’s not fat and he’s not slim• He’s a pretty nice guy and we all like him• Diddle diddle dumpling Principal Tim

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,How I wonder what you are.Up above the world so high,Like a diamond in the sky.Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Songs• For many families songs are a natural part

of family life.

• We sing holiday favorites, “Happy Birthday” to the birthday person, camp songs around the fire, or traveling songs.

• Research is beginning to show that singing is a wonderful way to teach reading!

Songs• When songs are sung and the singers have a copy of

the lyrics in front of them, they are reading short, highly predictable texts that are meant to be read orally.

• This type of text is among the very best material for developing students fluency and word recognition skills.

• Singing needs to be a daily part of the literacy experience for students at home and school.

• There are several websites where parents and children can find the lyrics to classic old songs.

• One site is kids.niehs.nih.gov/music.htm

Newspapers and Magazine

• Newspapers are delivered to many homes on a daily basis and are a great source of reading experiences.

• The variety of reading found in a newspaper provides you with a wealth of material for reading to and with your child.

Newspapers and Magazines

• Critical reading and analysis can occur in the opinion and editorial section of the paper.

• The comics are a great introduction to graphic texts and novels.

• Brief biographies of famous and not so famous people are often found in the obituaries.

• The entertainment and sports sections provide reviews of sporting events, movies, an other events in these areas of popular culture.

Newspapers and Magazines

• Most newspapers have sections for word games that allow parents and children to examine how words work and what they mean in a playful and engaging manner.

• Many newspapers have sections devoted to children and what is happening in their worlds.

• Newspapers can be an enormously helpful way for families to get together around literacy.

Mail• Families receive mail daily-from bills to

advertisements to personal and business letters.

• Parents can easily transform the daily mail into opportunities to explore reading and writing with children.

• Going through the mail together, sorting the mail into appropriate piles, prioritizing what needs to be looked at first and then reading through selected items can be a productive time for parents and children.

Technology• Most of the texts that we have

mentioned can also be found on the internet.

• It is easy to find materials for children to read from the internet.

• The computer and internet offer another opportunity of parents and children to read and write together.

Technology• Word processing programs

• Websites that explore words and language for children

• Special program designed to teach children to read at home

• E-mail and instant messaging

Technology• Most televisions have the capabilities of

providing written captions on the screen.

• With captioned television children have the opportunity to see the written form of words as they are spoken.

• Some parents have claimed that their children have learned to read from matching the voice to print.

Technology• Many television shows also have

internet components.

• Channels such as PBS, National Geographic, and Discovery connect their programming to the internet.

• This is another opportunity for parents and their children to work together.

Reading Environmental Texts• There are many ways that you can

help your child read using every day texts.

• Choose one or two alternative texts and use them daily with your child.

• Make a daily routine of sharing newspaper, reading the mail, developing a list, or performing rhymes of songs with your child.

Making Reading a Ritual

• This will become a daily ritual that children will come to expect.

• It can come home from school, before or after dinner time, during bath time, or at bedtime.

• Making it a ritual turns it into a normal part of family life.

Tips for Reading at Home

• Reading is reading, whatever the reading material might be.

• The more a child reads, the better reader that child will become.

• We do not have to go to the bookstore or library-there are reading materials all around us!

Big 5 of Reading• Phonemic Awareness

– Learning individual sounds that make a word

• Phonics– Learning connections between letter

patterns and the words they represent• Vocabulary

– Words that a student can recognize when reading (encompasses speaking, listening and writing vocabulary)

• Fluency– The ability to read a text accurately and

quickly• Comprehension

– Understanding what has been read

References:Beyond StoriesThe Reading Teacher61(7) pp 582-584Timothy Rasinkski and Nancy Padick

Thank you to Timothy Rasinski and Nancy Padick for sharing this information and letting others share it with parents.

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